The invention relates to devices and methods for placing five gallon water bottles on dispensers or coolers to avoid manual lifting of the bottles and spillage of water therefrom.
Consumers frequently purchase pure drinking water delivered to their residences in five gallon water bottles. Such a five gallon bottle of water weighs 42 pounds. Delivery of drinking water in this manner is a large industry in the United States and elsewhere. The delivery person frequently removes a sealed cap from the mouth of a first full bottle and inverts it, and lowers it onto a receiving opening or well of a water cooler or dispenser. The delivery person frequently places additional full bottles in a location specified by the consumer. When the first bottle is empty, the consumer then must remove the sealed cap from a full bottle, lift and carry it to the dispenser, invert the bottle, and lower it onto the dispenser. This can present a major physical challenge to some consumers, especially older or handicapped consumers, and can cause back injuries and other injuries. Furthermore, inverting a full bottle with the cap removed often involves spillage and waste of water.
In recognition of the above difficulties, numerous devices have been proposed to lift full water bottles, carry them to a dispenser/cooler, invert the bottles, and lower them onto the cooler, so as to avoid injury to the user. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,425,614; 5,406,996; 5,288,200, and 4,036,382 are indicative of the state of the art. However, all of the above devices disclosed in these references are unduly complex and costly.
There is an unmet need for a simple, inexpensive device and technique that is particularly adapted to lifting large water bottles, carrying them to a water dispenser, cooler or the like, inverting them, and lowering them onto a water dispensing device without undue risk of strain or injury to the user and without needless spillage of water.